Summer Lessons
by Westfall99
Summary: The Dursleys jet off to Spain for the summer holidays, leaving Harry without a home. He must stay at Hogwarts over the summer, recieving evening classes from the dreaded Potions Master, whilst trying to entertain himself during the day...
1. Chapter 1

It was a chilly friday morning near the end of term when Harry was pulled out of class and ordered to go and see the Headmaster in his office, it had been during Potions, therefore it had caused quite the commotion. Snape looked like he could've murdered the first year that came to the door to request Harry's presence. However, Snape had no authority to say no to Dumbledore, and that's how Harry had managed to escape third period Potions. Very much a bonus. The boy that had come to get him left as soon as Harry had come to the entrance to the Headmaster's study which was a large, rather ugly stone Gargoyle.

'Sherbet lemons..' Harry whispered, cautious that someone might hear the password and later use it to bring about trouble, something Dumbledore wouldn't thank him for, which was the last thing Harry wanted, seeing as the Wizard had done nothing but good things for him.

The Gargoyle swung open rather like a door, to reveal a winding set of stairs. Harry gulped in slightly fearful anticipation and began to climb.

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><p>'Unfortunately Harry, your immediate family, The Dursley's, are unable to take you this summer. As you have no other family in which you could spend the holidays with, we are uncertain as to what to do with you.' Dumbledore spoke over his half-moon glasses, his sparkling eyes hovering on Harry's forehead momentarily, and then looking to his silver goblet of sherbet lemons, which he plunged his hand into and began to twiddle a sweet between his long fingers.<p>

'But Dumbledore, can't I stay with Ron?' Harry panicked; he knew what would be done with him if he had nowhere to go, he remembered back to last year in which he saved Ron's younger sister Ginny from the clutches of his darkest enemy. Riddle's diary had shown him a flashback, 51 years ago, a short conversation between Riddle and Dumbledore, who at the time was not headmaster. He had told Dumbledore they couldn't close the school, he couldn't bear to go back to the orphanage. Harry was scared that was where he would end up this summer, unwanted, unloved.

'Arthur Weasley recently informed me that he and his family will be going to stay with distant relatives abroad this summer, unfortunately, and believe me I have checked, you will be unable to accompany them Harry.'

Why hadn't Ron told him about this? Probably out of guilt. Oh well, anywhere would be better than spending the whole summer with his rotten Aunt and Uncle, not to mention their rather large, terrible son 'Dudders' who felt the need to make Harry's life a misery at every opportunity.

Just then the door behind them creaked loudly and Dumbledore looked up, his eyes not concealing how puzzled he was at the Wizard who had entered.

'Severus?'

'Sorry to intrude on this delicate matter Headmaster, but I have an idea.' The recognizable silky voice of Harrys Potions Professor seemed to overwhelm Dumbledore's small study. He didn't want to even question how Snape had known about his...situation, his stomach was retching uncomfortably, feeling horribly like a rogue bludger had hit him square in the gut, but Dobby wasn't around as far as he knew... Snape always seemed to appear in Harrys life, whenever he least wanted him too (which as far as Harry was concerned, was always), it was like he took great pleasure in adding to the enormous pressure that weighed down Harry's shoulders. He closed his eyes fiercely and took a deep breath, he had more pressing matters to consider right now, and he would not let his sarcastic Potions teacher get under his skin.

'Wonderful Severus! Why don't you share?' Albus looked thoughtful as he popped another sherbet lemon into his mouth, his old face lighting up in pleasure.

'Why doesn't Potter stay at Hogwarts this summer? As you know I will be taking up residence in the school this summer, and I could use an extra pair of hands when it comes to the challenge of preparing the school for a new term.' Snape spoke in his quiet voice; Harry was wide eyed as he continued. 'As long as Potter stays out of the way and does not make himself known to me over the 6 weeks, I don't see an issue with this…arrangement.' He licked him lips slowly as he barely breathed the last word.

Harry felt like his lungs had been punctured, and were deflating as the silent seconds passed. What terrors would be in store if he were to spend the summer under Snape's careful watch? He couldn't bear to think. He just hoped that the headmaster would think this an awful idea and cast Severus out of the room.

'Brilliant! How generous of you! Much better than my original thoughts, which would be inappropriate! Harry my dear boy, I think we have your summer arrangements sorted, unless you have somewhere else you would rather go? Severus, I'll…talk to you in a moment.' Dumbledore paused in his excitement and shot a happy, questioning look at Harry.

'No sir.' Harry felt sombre as he lowered his head. It looked like there could be a worse summer than one shared with the Dursley's.

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><p>'That's awful Harry! Snape's so horrible!' Hermione gasped as Harry told her the news, his other best friend, Ron, looked equally as flabbergasted.<p>

'Did he tell you what he was going to make you do?' Ron asked leaning forward in anticipation, probably expecting Harry to tell him how he was going to get him to do something unspeakable, which thankfully he wasn't.

'When Dumbledore sent me out of his study... I heard him and Snape talking, Dumbledore was really taken aback by Snape's offer. Guess I wasn't the only one... Well, I heard the Professor saying he'd need help maintaining the grounds ready for September, but the Headmaster shot him down and said that's why we had elves, and that he dearly hoped Severus wasn't going to try and make me into an elf. Snape didn't reply!'

'He's going to make you his servant? Harry that's ter-' Hermione flew her arms around Harry's neck and stifled a few sobs.

'No No- it's okay, I heard Snape then say that he thought it would be best for my protection now that some Death Eater that he used to be acquainted with, is on the run. Something about how he would likely try and get his hands on me if he finds out where I am, not forgetting that he has connections with Snape himself who could protect me against him, if I become the Wizards latest obsession. I missed the name though... Snape said that there was no safer place than Hogwarts, therefore as much as it killed him to make the offer, his conscience had won over and told him to make me stay here. But he's not happy about it.'

'So Snape wants to protect you?' Ron asked, repeating what Harry had already said.

'Yeah, I guess.'

'-He wants to protect Harry from a Death eater? Who's to say that he won't go behind Dumbledores back and bring him to Hogwarts? Did anyone think of that! Snape wouldn't just offer to be your guardian for the summer Harry, this is suicide!'

'Maybe it is Hermione, but I have no other choice.' Harry admitted, giving his friend a pat on the shoulder, trying awkwardly to stop her tears.

'I'm really sorry that you can't stay with either of us this summer Harry.' Ron gave his friend a weak look, guilt covering his pale freckled face. 'Really, really, sorry.'

'It's alright both of you, I don't want to be a burden anyway, I hope Snape just lets me get on with my homework. At least I can do it this summer, last year I had to do it at night under my covers.

Both his friends nodded sadly.

'We'll write to you every day! And Percy said I could use his friends Owl 'Ferret' who he's being lent so that he can write to his friends back in England, so Errol doesn't keel over somewhere on his way across the Pacific Ocean.' Ron grinned and gave Harry a thump on the back. 'Imagine all the exploring you could do in this old place!' for a second he looked a little jealous at the possibilities of what Harry could get up to in the 6 week holiday, none of which Harry was planning to do.

'Certainly not Ronald! You'll be catching up on work and not doing anything to aggravate Snape won't you!' It wasn't a question. Harry nodded and glanced at Ron who was muttering something about sounding like his mother under his breath. 'But he is correct. We'll both write to you every day, I promise! And I'll send you gifts again, at least you have your birthday to look forward too!'

His birthday. He hadn't thought about that. The prospect of another birthday passing whilst being under the surveillance of a less than keen taker was not very appealing. He nodded meekly and pulled the red and yellow Gryffindor crested blanket he kept at the end of his school bed over his shoulders.

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><p>The last week of school passed a lot quicker than Harry wanted, and before he knew it he was hugging his best friends' goodbye for the summer, and watching them set off on the Hogwarts Express, to home, to where they would be spending a fun filled 6 weeks. He exerted a long breath then turned around; he would not feel sorry for himself. He'd spend his holiday flying, if Snape let him fly that was. He could get in some really good practise, that he desperately needed after a few cancelled practises in the past weeks due to Wood coming down with a mysterious illness, probably another devious scheme run by the Weasley twins who seemed intent on causing havoc on the last weeks of school every year, a tradition apparently.<p>

'Potter, there you are.' Harry met the eyes of the speaker, who was none other than the person he was dreading meeting. Snape was wearing his familiar menacing look of distaste, aimed at Harry. 'Follow me; I have some ground rules to make clear.'

Harry groaned to himself and followed the billowing black robes of his professor, having to run to keep up with him.

'Hurry up Potter; I have things to be getting on with!'

'I am.' Harry muttered to himself and sped up a little.

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><p>After following Snape for what felt like an hour, they reached a tall door, magnificently decorated with venomous looking serpents. A Slytherins favourite thing, how fitting. Snape unwarded the door which was obviously protected with powerful dark magic, and to Harry's surprise, offered the door to Harry, a dark look on his face. Harry stood awkwardly, not knowing whether to cross the threshold and face the consequences, or wait for Snape to go first, and get in equally as much trouble for time wasting precious time.<p>

'Potter, move!' Snape bellowed and jabbed the end of his wand into Harrys back, shoving him into the room, following and closing the door behind him. 'Sit down boy, don't touch anything.'

Harry sat down on a black leather couch that was situated in the middle of the room; around him the walls were painted a dark olive green, and completely empty. No pictures, nothing covered the walls, but then again what did he expect? Canvases of dainty flowers? No, he was clearly in Snape's private study, that was the last thing he should've expected to see. However, it was a different room to the one he had been brought to at the start of term, when Snape had threatened to get he and Ron expelled due to a flying car incident.

In front of him there was a dark mahogany desk; parchment was strewn over it messily, as if Snape had been searching for something frantically before he had departed to pick up Harry. Deciding he would rather leave with his life, Harry stayed sitting on the hard couch, touching anything in here would probably compromise his chance of attending the next school year.

He was just observing the tall grey cauldron in the corner of Snape's room, in which a violet coloured substance was bubbling away happily, when the Professor stormed in, a look that could kill on his face.

'Idiot, idiot children! Those red head freckled morons will be out of here before they've had the chance to even return!' He slammed a pale fist down on the desk with such force that parchment flew everywhere.

'Wingardium leviosa!' Snape seethed, speaking the spell so fast that it was barely audible. The parchment floated in the air, and with his assistance, landed in a neat pile on a metal file cabinet adjacent to Harry. Then finally Snape's black, cold eyes flickered to Harry, as if it was the last thing he wanted to do. He reminded him of snake. Harry felt his body straightening up and his hands begin to shake.

'…Sir, can I ask you why you decided to let me stay at Hogwarts?' Harry asked the question that he and his friends had been trying to decipher for a long time.

Snape looked directly at him, making him feel very small. 'Because Potter, I could make great use of you here, where I could not if you were locked up in an orphanage.'

Snape pointed at him and snapped, not losing eye contact. 'Rule number 1, you will never enter this study, or any of my private quarters, without permission. Which you will be unlikely to ever get.' He took a sharp intake of breath before continuing, Harry felt it wise not to say anything in response. 'Rule number 2, the forest is out of bounds, as usual. You will not be dying under my watch Mr Potter.'

Harry nodded nervously, his brow getting clammy and hot, his messy hair sticking to his face. Why did the professor have this reaction on him?

'Rule number 3 Potter, you will sleep in your usual dormitory bed, nowhere else. You will be there no later than 10pm. If I catch you out of bed later than that, then there will be serious, serious consequences. It is no longer school, I can punish you any way I feel fit.'

A flicker of fear licked down Harry's spine, causing him to arch his back reflexively. For a moment he thought he saw Snape smirk...so much for freedom though, but he had something Snape didn't know about, his father's invisibility cloak which would allow him to..bend the rules. Hermione wasn't here, he could do almost anything.

'Rule number 4, Potter are you paying attention? Don't make me repeat this. Rule number 4, dinner will be provided for you in your common room at 6pm precisely, if you are not there, you will go hungry. I have informed the kitchen elves you are allowed to specify, within reason, what you wish to eat. You are to write it down on the parchment which will be stuck to the entrance to the Great Hall. This isn't a luxury or an act of kindness Potter as you may think, during the term Dumbledore provides the menu for all staff and students, however he is not here, therefore I have no other option than to let you choose. You are to write what you wish to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner for the following day, in clear, legible scribe. Elves can be very dumb when it comes to reading. It will be your fault if you are misunderstood. Am I understood Potter?'

He was allowed to choose what to eat? Wow! Why was Snape being so nice? Probably an order from Dumbledore, who would likely be trying to make this more enjoyable for Harry, he knew of his opinion on his Potion Professor.

'Rule number 5, you have access to some of the classrooms and the library, they have been warded to allow you to enter, if they will be used constructively for your work. Normal rules for all apply, if I catch you mistreating anything you will be punished. You are to do your homework in the library or your common room where you can easily clean things up, I don't want to be finding bits of parchment left in rogue places. Also, I do not wish to be bothered about homework help.' Snape stood up suddenly and began to pace. 'And lastly, rule number 7. You are to attend evening classes with me every evening at 7pm. I will be teaching you my subject of course, and many others that Dumbledore has asked me to teach. If you miss any of my class' I will not hesitate to punish you Potter.'

Harry's jaw dropped. Evening classes with Snape? He couldn't bear potions class with his professor 3 times a week, let alone share his company every evening, the thought was daunting. Up to now everything had seemed quite brilliant, and he had been rather excited at the prospect at being allowed so much freedom and time to himself, but this had definitely ruined it for him. He scowled and nodded in acknowledgment.

'Yes sir.'

'Good, you may leave.' Snape waved his hand and turned to walk out of the door he had come storming out of before, but Harry interrupted.

'Sir, do you think it would be okay if I were to use the Quidditch pitch to practise my flying?' He gulped and felt the piercing stare of Snape, who was caught off guard, not expecting that.

'Yes, I don't see why not. Now hurry, the elves have prepared you lunch.'

And with that Snape left the room, and Harry felt his feet being moved to the door without his permission. What a summer he was going to have.

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><p><strong>AN; Updated on the 1/8/11 to add some details, an introduction and correct some mistakes. Enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2

Harry sat cross-legged on the end of his four poster school bed, tucking ravenously into a dish of roast chicken and carrots and a full, thick glass of rich pumpkin juice which had been provided not long ago by a really small, well-nourished kitchen elf (it clearly received the frequent affections of someone who liked to feed it), who wore a small red hat which reminded Harry of a Muggle game his cousin used to be play named Super Mario. He'd pushed the idea of 6 weeks of stressful evening classes with Snape to the back of his mind, and was enjoying his current freedom, the prospect of what the next few weeks held was already outshining his normal summer with the Dursley's and they hadn't even happened yet. He had his whole day planned out; he wasn't going to waste a single minute. Harry would eat his lunch, go for a brief ride around the Quidditch pitch to burn off the calories he had consumed, recently he had been noticing his middle becoming more pronounced and wobbly, a result of the indulgences at Hogwarts. He would then complete his homework task set by his head of house and transfiguration teacher Minvera McGonagall, a 2 parchment length essay on shape shifters, something that had particularly interested Harry during the lesson; however the homework would not be so exciting.

The only bad part of today would be trudging down to Snape's potions class at 7pm to endure what could be hours of his less than pleasant company. Harry shuddered and shovelled another mouthful of chicken into his mouth, murmuring in appreciation, even if he would be with Snape this summer, at least he would have some good food. He wiped his mouth clean with the back of his hand and left the plates and empty glass on the top of his chest of drawers, he had been assured by the kitchen elf that if placed there, they would be taken away and cleaned. The last thing he wanted was to get in trouble with his Professor for being untidy.

Under his bed, gathering a lot of dust and most likely housing a few sleepy spiders, was his Firebolt. After the recent demise of his Nimbus 2000, Harry had managed to acquire the new prototype broomstick ready for the new Quidditch season, and was yet to try it out due to a busy few weeks. Clutching the stick in his hands he stroked the magnificent wood patterns which criss-crossed over the surface; it was definitely a thing of beauty, well worth the hefty sum of galleons he had paid for it. Harry let out a sigh of contentment and gazed out the window which overlooked the rolling green hills that surrounded Hogwarts, he was in a much better place, and he should be grateful. Snape's kindness was unexpected, and suspiciously offered probably to benefit himself, but had not necessarily gone unappreciated.

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><p>Harry woke in sudden surprise; he was curled up in a tight cocoon ball at the end of his bed, the red Gryffindor duvet covers in a heap on the wooden floor, obviously having been kicked off in the middle of a rough dream. He yawned loudly and hopped off the bed, grabbing his broomstick which had been dropped in the middle of the room next to his chest of drawers, he noted that he plates had indeed been taken away. Whilst lazily pulling on his Quidditch robes he shot a glance at the old, alarm clock Ron had lent him in his first year of school, but had never asked for back.<p>

'Blimey!' he exclaimed and rushed out of the dormitory, missing a step on his way down the winding stars. He had overslept by 3 hours, it was nearing 4pm in the afternoon, he only had 2 hours to do what he wanted to accomplish in the day, before he had to be back up in his common room for dinner, and then the dreaded class.

Harry had barely stepped out of the back entrance of the school which led to the Quidditch pitch, when he mounted his broom, he was about to kick off and soar into the brilliant fresh air, when a pale hand clutched the neck of his robes and yanked him off the broom. Harry found himself dangling in the air, arms flailing a confused expression covering his face.

'Potter, may I remind you that it is forbidden to mount your broom until you have reached the Quidditch Pitch unless in one of Madam Hooch's flying lessons.' The recognizable snarky tone of the Professors voice floated through the air. Snape.

'Sorry Professor, I was just very eager.' Harry replied quietly, relaxing his arms, letting them hang limply by his side, waiting for Snape to drop him to the floor in an uncomfortable pile.

'Rules are rules potter, I do not bend the rules, and I will most certainly not be bending them for you.' He added sarcastically as he let go of Harry's robes. 'Oh and Potter, classes will be cancelled tonight. I have an emergency meeting I have to attend. May I add that the rules still apply, whether I am on the premises or not.' The potion masters lips twinged, as if he were about to smile, but stopped in a grimace.

'Yes sir.' Harry replied as he picked himself and dusted the dirt off his clean robes in annoyance. 'I remember.'

'Potter, don't speak back to me.' Snape scowled and turned on his heel, robes billowing behind him. His signature move. Harry sniggered under his breath and took hold of his broomstick once again.

'Stupid Snape.' He muttered as he broke into a sprint, the Quidditch Pitch nearing by the second. He felt free, so free. It was brilliant. As soon as his foot crossed the border of the pitch he mounted his broom and flew off into the clouded sky. He let out an exhilarating scream of joy as he circled the pitch, winding his way through the stands taking in thick gulps of fresh air, clearing his head. For the moment Harry forgot all about where he was and soared higher into the sky, greeting the evening like an old friend.

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><p>It was 5:52pm when Harry finally finished his homework piece on shape shifters, it had taken a lot longer than he had previously thought, and required a lot of concentration and frantically flicking through the towering pile of books Hermione had found and given to Harry before she left for the summer.<p>

'Almost time for dinner…' He murmured to himself and stole another glance out of the window, it was beginning to get darker now, and his friends would be jetting off to their exotic destinations, or cuddled up on the sofa with a butterbeer telling their families about the exciting year at Hogwarts, whilst Grandparents took it all in with a proud smile, or in Neville's case, an exasperated look. Harry chuckled, although he was rather lonely he could still feel happiness for his friends. **BEEP BEEP BEEEP! **Ron's alarm clock came to life suddenly and began to jump up and down wildly on top of Harrys weathered chest of drawers, before taking a dangerous nose dive towards the floor as one of its feet misjudged a step. **Ouch! **It screamed as it landed and bounced as if it were made of rubber. Harry scooped it up in his hands delicately and laid it carefully on his bed covers, where it would eventually calm down and fall asleep for the night, until it would have to wake to alert Harry for breakfast.

Rummaging through his drawers he found the jumper that Ron's generous mother had made him for Christmas the previous year, and dressed himself in it. Night was drawing closer and so was the chill of the night air. Satisfied that he wouldn't freeze Harry slipped on the nearest pair of shoes to the door, which happened to be the pair that he usually wore to play Quidditch, they were in the best condition of all his shoes surprisingly. Harry was just about to pull open the door when it was flung open by the same elf that had delivered his lunch, but this time he was without his hat and he wore a look similiar to one Snape usually posed.

'Do this, do that. Do this, do that. Why doesn't master leave Eli alone!' the elf chatted to itself madly as he came in, completely ignoring the surprised Harry, and placed the tray of food on the drawers, and turned to leave but paused to turn around and smile at Harry. But it wasn't an ordinary smile...it was more of evil smirk, and that was when Harry took in the fact the elf's eyes. They had a milky, glazed appearance, suggesting that the elf was either drunk or...going mad.

'Er, excuse me, elf.' Harry spoke cautiously. He was very aware that for an elf to insult his own master was almost blasphemous, but he chose not to admit his thoughts out loud. 'Do you think you would be able to take my food downstairs to the Great Hall, I'd like to eat there tonight, please?' Please was a last minute addition, but by the death glare the elf was giving him, was probably a very good idea.

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><p>After much grumbling and cussing Harry and his dinner were finally escorted to the safety of the Great Hall by the grumpy kitchen elf (who seemed to be having major mood swings before Harry's eyes) who by chance walked very slowly, probably due to the fact his legs were no bigger than half the length of Harry's forearm. But this gave him time to take in everything that he normally missed when making a B-line for the dinner hall after a long day, normally Ron would be dragging him there at such speed he barely got the chance to breathe. The school was so beautiful at night, and although shadows hugged the walls and furniture, it felt safe. Safer than the Dursely's abode, that's for sure.<p>

Once Harry's dinner had been placed on the long table the elf disappeared as fast as it had appeared, leaving Harry feeling a bit disorientated, and very much alone. There had definitely been something wrong with him, but Harry was too fatigued to really think about Eli any further, he was sure if something was wrong Snape would definitely pick up on it. He picked a tomato from his plate and nibbled at it as he wondered up and down the long isles between each house dining table. It felt very weird to be able to do this so freely, usually the hall would be filled with laughter, chatting and screams of delight as wonderful feasts appeared before the eye. But today, it was empty. Tomorrow it would be empty. The day after it would also be empty. Every day for 6 weeks it would be empty. It began to sink in then, Harry was alone, in a huge magical school, with only a mysterious, and very dangerous Potions master, for company and supposed protection.

Sighing loudly he pierced another tomato with his nail and popped it into his mouth, taking another to repeat the action with. Then a long piece of parchment caught his eye, it was floating closely to the back of the entrance door to the Great Hall, a blue feathered quill hovering in the air beside it. This must be the parchment Snape had been taking about when he had administered his rules.

Harry stroked the parchment which seemed to quiver with excitement under his warm touch, he could feel the magic that enveloped both the items, and it gave him a fuzzy feeling. Slowly he unravelled the ribbon which was holding it together, and pulled the parchment open. It read;

_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_

_Regarding meals for July 21__st __1991_

_Food ordering system – replies will be sent directly to the kitchen staff_

_Please specify exactly what you wish to eat for breakfast below;_

_Please specify exactly what you wish to eat for lunch below;_

_Please specify what you wish to eat for dinner below;_

_Please specify what beverages you wish to be provided with and the times in which they are to be served;_

Harry felt like a prince. Never in his life had he been asked what he would like to eat, he found himself grinning from ear to ear. However it was short lived, attached to the bottom of the long role of parchment was a small note. It looked like the howler Ron had received from his furious mother at the start of the term.

_Potter, lessons will be proceeding tomorrow at 7pm. I have left you some Potions work that I want completed by tonight's lesson without fail, on my desk in my classroom. Do not touch anything, and you most certainly will not snoop. I will know. Don't test me._

He felt his stomach drop. More homework was definitely not what he needed, or wanted as a matter of fact, right now. Casting that thought aside Harry filled out the form for the following day, hesitating only on the beverages section. Would it be okay to ask for butterbeer? He had been craving it for months now, surely he could treat himself? He scribbled down _Butterbeer – 6pm _in the correct section and feeling like he should, folded the parchment and reattached the ribbon to it, pocketing Snape's note.

Harry returned to his seat and started on his dinner. It felt so wrong without his best friends either side of him, chattering away about their dismal or brilliant day, or something exciting they had seen or learnt. He even missed Hermione's glares of disapproval which she shot at Ron every so often from the other side of Harrys head whenever Ron said something he shouldn't of. He missed the familiarity, the company, the routine. Hell, he even sort of missed Malfoys frequent sneers from across the hall.

As he took another mouthful of his dinner, he was sure that he had seen a figure out of the corner of his eye, in dark clothing standing at the entrance to the dinner hall, watching him intensely. But when he turned to check, there was nothing there but an empty corridor leading to a grassy courtyard.

This summer, was going to last forever.

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><p><strong>Thanks guys! I really appreciate the reviews, the messages and all of you adding me to your various alerts for favourite story and author etc.! Maybe this story isn't going to be as bad as I previously thought! Please keep the reviews coming, it helps me know what I'm doing wrong, and what you guys really like and want to see more of! Will be updating regularly unless you guys specify otherwise. Thanks again, ~ Bry<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for bearing with me guys, the plot will finally become clear in the next few chapters, I just wanted to set the scene. It's almost summer; I'll have a lot of time to keep the story updated, so fingers crossed you all like it. Feel free to send me any ideas and/or messages. I also apologize in advance to my squeamish readers, but the beginning of this chapter is necessary for the next part of the storyline, I promise! ~ Bry**

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><p>Harry's peaceful sleep was interrupted quite suddenly by a mad dash for the nearest toilet. His normally settled stomach was definitely not happy that morning and was putting up a tough fight against something which it didn't like, most likely the previous night's dinner, which was weird as it had tasted just fine when he was devouring it. But he wouldn't put it past the odd acting elf that had delivered it to him, to do something to his food, after all he had been in a foul mood and Harry had made his job that little bit more difficult. Harry made a mental note to not aggravate an elf like Eli ever again, and also find that very elf later and interrogate him; he knew some elves had a mean streak, especially when being wound up, or when they were just in a very bad mood, which his evening visitor had very much been. As last night's food made an unwanted appearance for the second time Harry groaned painfully, it was 2 minutes past 5 in the morning, and he was no way getting back to sleep anytime soon.<p>

About half an hour later, a very weak Harry crawled his way silently back to his bed, using his last burst of reserved strength to pull his body into the welcoming comfort of his covers. He felt positively dreadful. So much for the plans he had today, and he didn't even want to think about Snape's response to Harry not turning up for his evening classes and being bed-bound. He knew he wouldn't believe him one bit, the Professor would likely think it an act of rebellion over last night's cancellation, and after all he took every chance he could get to be annoyed at Harry. But Harry didn't have the effort for Snape right now; all he could concentrate on was the throbbing pain in his abdomen, and the uncomfortable cramps that were encasing his limp, useless legs.

'Brilliant.'

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><p>One step. Two step. Three step. Four st- Harry fell dramatically into the wall, knocking his glasses from his face and scraping his cheek bone as he went. He had found himself slowly plodding towards his potions classroom no less than 15 minutes after his last thrashing fit, sickness wasn't going to interfere with his schedule today, and right now he was late for picking up his homework from Snape, which he had forgotten to pick up last night, before he retired to bed. Two winding corridors later a disorientated Harry arrived panting and wobbly, at the all too familiar Potions classroom. The door was slightly ajar which was a sign that someone was inside. Funny, you wouldn't think Snape fit into the 'early bird' category.<p>

Harry leant forward in anticipation and was about to bang loudly on the door with his fist, when whispers flouted out from the crack in the door, catching his interest.

'The boy is in danger if he is found Severus, you know that better than anyone.' Spoke a distinctly high pitched female voice snapped, when she spoke it reminded Harry of bells..it was quite a pretty, satisfying sound He found himself leaning in to hear more of the conversation.

'Potter attracts trouble. It would be a waste of time to try. We would do better to...quell the source of the problem.' Snapped Snape's silky, cold voice. It was emotionless and monotone as ever, clearly he wasn't a fan of the company he was sharing.

'You'd think wouldn't you. But he won't be easy to locate and destroy, anyway we first need to find what his motives are, before we act. We could be destroying the key to this whole situation, without even realizing it.'

'Maybe your right. However, we can't leave this much longer. We are putting not only our world, but the Muggle's existence at risk. Perhaps we should make an unbreakable vow Witch, then we both know where we stand.' His voice sent chills down Harry's spine, he craved the knowledge of what they were talking about, but if he burst in demanding answers, the consequences would be unthinkable.

The female witch coughed uncomfortably and that's when the whispers became unintelligible, Harry chose that moment to knock. At least if Snape was in the presence of another magical being, he would be less likely to punish Harry for the interruption just yet.

'Potter?' The whispering stopped immediately and he heard a scraping of a chair, crumpling of parchment and then heavy footsteps approaching the door.

'Yes Professor.' Harry said pushing the old oak door open forcefully, letting the early morning sunlight into the dark, dank room. He came face to face with his Potions Professor, who for a moment looked almost happy to see him, but that didn't last long and his scowl soon returned.

'Why are you here so early in the morning? Did we not have an agreement? You would stay out of my way for the 6 weeks and under those terms I would let you stay here.' He snarled and closed the door a little, as if trying to shield his visitor from Harry's gaze, or even vice versa, Harry wasn't sure.

'I came to pick up my homework, Sir.' Harry replied, feeling his knees buckle slightly underneath his dead weight and only just managed to save himself an embarrassing fall by grabbing at the nearest thing to him – the door frame. Snape raised an amused eyebrow.

'Having trouble maintaining balance today Potter?'

Harry didn't respond, closing his eyes and focusing on his ragged breathing. Snape held his glare for a few more seconds before he turned quickly and went to fetch a thin blue workbook that looked strangely out of place on an ancient wooden chair that was in the corner of the room, not actually where he had said it would be on Harry's note. Snape returned and slapped the book into Harry's open, expectant palm, before shooting a look at his guest, who was dreamily looking into space, most likely wishing she was somewhere else. However, the added weight of a book on Harry proved all too much, and before he knew it the hard, stone floor was approaching rapidly.

Then everything went a familiar, terrifying, black.

* * *

><p>Harry rubbed the sleep out of his eyes repeatedly with his sweaty palms, he felt like he had been asleep for weeks. His body was restored fully, his joints responding to what he told them to do, he was completely refreshed. Yawning loudly he finally opened his eyes and pushed himself with little effort, into a comfortable sitting position, his back supported by a plump white pillow. It was only then that he began to take in his surroundings. He was lying on a huge bed, rather like his own 4 poster one, but about triple the size, and much more luxurious. The drapes that hung off it were spectacular, they were decorated in black and green velvet stripes, and silver stars randomly sparkling on the material; they were reflecting the light that was being emitted out of a tall, odd looking rectangular lamp that was to the left of the bed. The walls were bare however, similar to the lack of decoration in Snape's private study, which went well with the sparsely furnished room. As if he had read Harry's mind, the slightly sarcastic voice of Severus Snape made itself known.<p>

'You're awake. Finally.' Very matter of fact, not even an attempt at a 'how are you' or 'are you feeling better?' but then, you couldn't expect that from a personality such as Snape.

'Indeed…' Harry replied, gazing at the Professor that was sat, arms crossed in a black, leather chair beside the bed, dressed as always in his austere robes, which were void of any colour.

'Don't be sharp with me Potter. I just saved your life. Again.' Snape said coolly as he shifted his weight in the chair, placing the thick book on potions he was reading on the floor underneath his feet. 'Now, do you have any pain?'

Snape had saved Harry's life? How? When? What! Harry vaguely remember the unexpected, violent bout of sickness he had suffered earlier in the morning, but was unaware it had been life threatening. In fact he was more focused on trying to remember the details of the conversation which he had overheard, it seemed to have been an important one, one that he really wanted to hear more of. But what did he mean by again? As far as Harry was aware Snape did nothing but bully and punish him, nothing along the lines of protecting or saving him, that was for sure. But before Harry could question him Snape leapt up and began to pace like he had done when he was about to administer Harry's ground rules, this action usually meant a lecture or telling off was about to ensue. Harry prepared himself by laying back into the huge white pillow which had been placed under his head; a dark blue liquid had stained the corner of the casing, leaving a dark, noticeable circle.

'You were poisoned Potter. By who, we don't know. That's what is concerning to us. I put your body into a coma like state, in which I could act best to save your life. Thanks to my experience and knowledge of my field, I was able to conjure up a cure rather quickly, but not before you began to tinker on the edge of life and death.' He spoke precisely, slight worry tingeing his words. He waved dismissively as if to say 'don't worry about it' but knowing him too well Harry knew this was because the wizard found the situation awkward, although he did like others to be in his debt. Power was everything to Severus Snape.

'It was the elf. The kitchen elf. He poisoned me!' Harry shouted accusingly, frantically glaring around the room, as if the creature would appear any second and try to finish what he had started. His heart pumped faster in surprise from the sudden outburst.

But Snape cut him short. 'Nonsense! The kitchen elves here owe their lives to Dumbledore. None of them, even those that hold grudges against the demanding students of Hogwarts, would endanger their lives like this.'

'This one did! He was muttering about his master ordering him around. I think he was named…Eli?' Harry strained himself to analyse his memories, trying to find any trace of resentment in the voice of the elf in the brief conversation they shared in the Gryffindor common room before dinner.

Suddenly, Snape's face went darker than Harry had ever seen it before, a look of pure death making his features undistinguishable. His brow knitted together in annoyance and his upper lip quivered as it peeled back to reveal his nasty, yellow teeth. 'Eli is my personal elf.' He spat, his whole dangerous demeanour radiating hatred. 'It appears my memories of last night have been tampered with. Either that, or you are lying to me Potter. Seeing as Eli was with me.' Harry stared in shock as Severus seemed to transform in front of his eyes, into a trembling, angry mess. 'You tell me everything you witnessed now.'

As Harry retold last nights events, consciously skipping a few details in which he moaned about Snape, his Professor listened intently his face scornful. The elf hadn't been in Harry's presence for too long, therefore the story was relatively short. However it left Snape gazing thoughtfully at the floor his head resting on his palms, reminding Harry of a child.

'Amusing. Very amusing.' He finally spoke, his voice dripping with insincerity.

'So it was him who poisoned me?' Harry asked, confused still by the whole situation. Was Snape annoyed because his elf had tried to kill Harry, unlikely, or was he annoyed because the elf had been moaning about him behind his back? Equally as unlikely. However, even Snape, whose temper seemed to be a livewire, wouldn't get this furious at something like a bad word regarding himself. In fact, he cherished the punishments he could hand out of those who did insult him. Maybe he was annoyed that the elf almost killed Harry before he had the chance.

'Shut up Potter! I am led to believe that he had a part in the poisoning of your oblivious self. However he would not have done it on his own accord.' Snape snapped and stood so that he was looking out of the glass windows, his arms folded behind his back. He looked deep in thought.

'Like I previously said, it appears my memories and certain thought patterns have been tampered with. These events would not have slipped past me if they weren't.'

Whilst all this had been going on Harry had been sat hanging off Snape's private bed in anticipation, watching in utter disbelief, and confusion.

_'Professor?'_

Snape took a deep breath and turned to face Harry, patting down his hair which had gone awfully static during his moment of realization.

'Eli is a spy. You are in danger Potter. It is worse than Dumbledore originally expected.'

'I don't want to be rude Professor, Sir, but could you please explain what the hell is going on!' Harry almost screamed in exasperation, he was fed up of half answers with no meaning. 'I need to know!'

'Very well Potter. Let me get a glass of Firewhiskey, and then I will explain everything.'

* * *

><p>10 minutes later Snape appeared with a goblet of Firewhiskey, and the half empty bottle it had been poured from. He settled both on a side table and sat back in his chair, resting his bare feet gently on the Potions book which he had placed there almost an hour ago. Harry wondered if he realized what he was doing, to mistreat a book like that would anger Snape if anyone else were to do it, but he decided keeping quiet would be the best approach for the moment.<p>

'A few days before your discovery of our first petrified victim, I was meeting with a very old… acquaintance in The Three Broomsticks, in Hogsmeade. He was telling me about his loyal elf that had recently been causing him a lot of trouble. 'Said dark forces were at work in the elf's mind, too late for redemption. That's when he asked if I would take him, beat some sense into him, and try to recover the elf's former self.' Snape stopped momentarily to take a large swig of Firewhiskey, before he continued with his story, the concentration he was exerting causing a visible crinkle in his forehead. 'I thought nothing of it for a while; it hardly made its presence known, not until the evening it came questioning me about you and your scar. Rather obligingly I told him about your infuriating personality and resemblance to your father. Something only now I realize, was not my doing. Veritaserum was used on me that night Potter. Do you know what that is?'

Harry shook his head wordlessly.

'One drop will make any man spill his innermost secrets. It allows someone to be questioned, whilst giving the honest truth as answers.'

'So it was you that made the elf turn against me Professor?' Harry said quizzically, no closer to understanding than he was before Snape had started.

'No!' The Potions master snapped. 'Oh drat. Forget the in-between; I believe that the elf was under the imperius curse. It was being ordered to kill you. By who, I don't know. Someone in the grounds must have performed the curse.'

Harry's jaw dropped. Exactly what he didn't need after defeating a basilisk merely weeks before and coming face to face with Tom Riddle again was a cursed, insane elf trying to assassinate him. He'd had enough of possessed creatures for a _lifetime._


	4. Chapter 4

Harry found himself spending the following few days after his sickness very isolated; he only left the safety of the Gryffindor common room to climb to the owlery to see if either of his friends had replied to his mail explaining the sudden, frightening turn of events. Snape had done a no show at every one of Harry's evening classes so far, and he soon tired of the 15 minutes' walk to the Potions classroom, only to be made to wait for an hour every time before an elf appeared and dismissed him. He frequently wondered where Snape had gone to, and if he had left him all alone in Hogwarts, a thought which bewildered him, uncomfortably close to the creature that had tried to put a stop to his life. The first day after being poisoned Harry had been completely pain free, and had definitely enjoyed it, but he had woken the next day with extreme pains all over his body. It was as if someone was holding a scolding piece of metal to his skin in numerous places, the heat ripping at his muscles like a starved animal, his body's final clean-up operation against any remaining poison in his bloodstream, or any that had embedded itself into his flesh. It was as if his body didn't trust Snape to do the job well enough, which was similar to the thoughts harry had been having.

He woke on the eve of his birthday to Hedwig banging on the glass dormitory window with her beak in an annoyed fashion, she looked like she had been waiting a while for him to rise.

'Hedwig, gosh, I'm so sorry!' Harry exclaimed in surprise as he let the beautiful bird into the room, bringing the sunrise with her, she circled the room twice and then eventually landed on his chest of draws, kicking his alarm clock off with a scaly foot. She glanced at it lying on the floor and squeaked loudly, she never had like it.

Harry muttered under his breath and unattached the thick wad of parchment that was tied to her leg, she had dropped a large parcel wrapped in brown paper into the middle of his bed, something he only noticed as he went to pat her affectionately on the head.

'_Harry that is terrible! How are you feeling? Oh Merlin, we should have never let you stay there over the holidays, it was a death wish! Do you think Snape was in on it all? From his reaction that you described her certainly sounded very annoyed at something, maybe he knew something? Write to me as soon as you find out any more about that conversation!_

_Stay safe,_

_Hermione'_

Harry smiled and with his thumb and index finger stroked the parchment, whilst turning it over in his fingers, a caring letter from Hermione never failed to brighten his holidays. He tucked the parchment into his robe pocket where he would likely pull it out and read it again later, and after pausing briefly to watch Hedwig claw at his bed post, undid the second letter.

'_7pm. Without fail. Bring your wand and be focused.'_

The note had been written in a messy scribe, as if done in great haste. Very unlike Snape, usually he was very particular, borderline perfectionist. Something had to be wrong. For what felt like the billionth time that week, Harry's stomach dropped.

'Without fail? It's you that hasn't been there!' He screamed and brought his fist down onto his bed in anger, surprising a half-asleep Hedwig who with a loud squawk and a furious flapping of wings flew into the air and landed in the corner of the room watching Harry closely.

'Sorry…' Harry grumbled, his body was filled with resentment, an emotion he didn't often feel. It must've been the side effects of the potion Snape had provided to dull any pain he had. Shoving the note into the bin beside his bed he watched as it quivered, before sparking. Within seconds the Professors note, was no more.

Harry had soon finished reading Ron's lengthy letter about his miserable time on holiday so far, the company of his relatives was not as exciting as he had originally thought, Harry scribbled replies to all except Snape's note and sent Hedwig back on her journey, a piece of last night's chicken in her mouth. He wondered out loud where Ferret was, the owl that Ron had supposedly been leant by his brothers school friend and how Snape had intercepted his loyal bird to attach his own personal note. The brown parcel remained unopened on his bedspread.

* * *

><p>6:45pm came around faster than Harry wished, and soon it was time to leave for Snape's first actual evening class of the holiday, the only one to go ahead since school had finished for the term. Harry was at a loss as what to expect, would he be brewing potions for Snape, getting a head start on next year's work (boy Hermione would be envious if that was the case), or revising for his Christmas exams?<p>

Lost in thought he didn't realize he had arrived at his destination a lot quicker than normal.

'Potter. How positively wonderful it is to see you today.' Snape's blank face betrayed the false enthusiasm he put into his words. Nodding in acknowledgment Harry took a seat in the first row.

'Not there Potter. You need to be standing for today's lesson.' The Potions master took out his wand and pointed it straight at Harry, aiming between his eyes, Harry followed the movement, and momentarily going crossed eyed before he refocused on Snape. He drew his own wand and clutched it tightly in his hand, ready to protect himself if it was needed.

'Tonight I'll be teaching you the basics of Legilimency. Have you heard of it Potter?'

'No Sir.' Harry replied, lying. He had heard of it, but he wasn't 100% sure what it was. He had overheard Hermione discussing it with Pavarti earlier in the year after one of their Potions lessons, because she had read in a passage in a very old paper article, that Severus Snape had been named greatest Legilimens of his time, at one point only being second to Voldemort himself. Another famous Legilimen was Albus Dumbledore, which Hermione had taken great satisfaction in knowing.

'Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's finding. It can be used for good, as well as for the most severe evil. The latter Potter, you will not be permitted to do. You are not to mention this class to your school friends, and you are never to practise on anyone in the school.' Snape sneered at him and took a step back, leaning into his duelling pose which Harry had seen earlier in the year when he had witnessed Snape's dominance over Professor Lockhart. 'Tonight, you will learn how to do it with eye contact, and a wand. One day you will be able to do it as I do. Nonverbally and wandlessly.'

Knowing that Snape excelled in something that could allow him to see everything Harry had experienced, thought and felt, made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

'Repeat after me Potter. Legilimens!' Snape shouted, never breaking eye contact with Harry.

'Legilimens!' Harry screamed back equally as loudly, pointing his ward towards Snape, suddenly the world around him disappeared into blackness. After frantically looking around, he found himself face to face with none other than a skinny round face, the scar that decorated the boys forehead burning dully. He was looking at himself. That's when he realized where he was; he was in Snape's mind. He was seeing what Snape saw, and that was a 12 year old boy aiming his wand dangerously, his eyes wide with fear. But before Harry could physically make a move to delve into the secrets that the mind he was in held, a wall came crashing down on him. Snape was forcing him out, and he wasn't doing it gently.

Harry stumbled back; his whole body trembling. For a short moment he had been in the mind of Severus Snape, and it certainly hadn't been pleasant, the place had been void of any feeling and wasn't what he expected. After Snape's explanation of the spell he had expected to penetrate the mind and find on the surfaces some of his Professors darkest secrets, ones that not even Dumbedore knew... but there had been nothing, zilch. Out of the corner of his eye, breaking his thought he saw Snape glaring at him, his face contorted with hatred.

'Don't you dare use that on me without my permission!' He bellowed, taking a predatory step towards Harry. He had heard about Snape losing his temper freely before from a group of scarred fifth years students, but until now had not been a witness to such an outburst. 'You will not be entering my mind today Potter. However I commend you on such a Slytherin like act.' He added that on the end knowing it would bug Harry. Any questioning of Harry's rightful house truly bothered him, although he had chosen, well forced the Hat to sort him into Gryffindor, he had originally been set for Slytherin, the house of his enemy.

'Sorry.' Harry said, not in a very apologetic way. 'You told me to.'

'I told you to repeat my words, not perform the spell. Don't speak back to me.'

Snape retreated back to his seat and sat there watching Harry.

'You are so like your father.' He said calmly, not in his usual distasteful way. 'Too much like him.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Harry asked accusingly, his eyes narrowing at the Professor who was following his every movement like a hawk with his cold, black eyes. 'Professor Snape?'

Snape hadn't spoken for what felt like forever.

'I'm going to get you an elf to practise on.'

* * *

><p>Hugo stood before Harry, every inch of his slimy grey skin trembling with had dragged him into the room a matter of minutes earlier, and was stood with his arms crossed at the entrance to the potions class watching Harry, waiting impatiently for him to perform the Legilimens spell.<p>

'Gain eye contact Potter, that's essential for a beginner.' Snape instructed firmly.

Harry did as he was told, he reached out a shaking hand and captured the elf's chin between his two index fingers, the contact sending cold shivers down his spine, it reminded him of the squid that he had once tried at a school banquet. He felt under incredible pressure to perform, a familiar feeling whilst under Snape's intense gaze.

'I'm sorry Hugo.' Harry muttered and pointed his want to the middle of the elf's forehead, pressing the tip into his flesh. 'Legilimens!' He roared and suddenly he was taken on a rollercoaster through enclosing darkness, where he eventually landed in a large room. Hogwarts Kitchen. Harry had been invited in openly to the quaking creature's mind, without even a slightest attempt at repelling him. He felt so guilty.

He was viewing the first memory that he could get to, it must've been the easiest memory to find. Thinking back to what Snape had said when introducing the spell, the elf must have been thinking about it the moment Harry performed the spell, otherwise he would've made an attempt at hiding it.

'Move!' A high pitched squeal rang in Harry's ears as he watched the body he was in being pushed forcefully out the way to let past an abnormally large elf with eyes the size and shape of tennis balls. Its hollow face was quaking with fear. Harry watched as the next few events unravelled in shear horror.

'Eli? Eli! Eli!' The elf that had pushed Hugo out the way was shaking the little elf violently, its mouth millimetres from Eli's face, the surrounding crowd was panicking, squeals, screams and curses were heard, and it was a surprise that neither Harry nor Snape had heard the commotion while it was taking place.

Suddenly Eli's eyes snapped open dramatically, they were glazed over and his pupils were pinpricks, a crazed look covering his face. Proof for Harry that at least one thing Snape had said had been true; the elf had indeed been under the imperius curse.

'Get. Out. Of. My. Way!' Eli spat in a rather amusing American accent, shoving his friends out the way, each step he took parting the crowd. 'remove your self from Eli's way!' He screamed again at the elf that had tried to wake him, who had followed behind him, and was now standing in front of him, trembling.

'Eli can not betray the house elfs. The house elfs won't let Eli kill Mister Harry Potter!'

Eli's eyes hardened and he put out one perfectly still, filthy hand. Every single elf, including Hugo, recoiled in unison. A blast of brilliant blue light exploded from his palm, smashing straight into his victim, who fell immediately to the floor. Silence. Harry could feel Hugo's body convulsing violently at the memory, he was feeling pain, grief, anger, hatred and confusion all in one second, and it was too much for the little elf. He keeled over, the memory ending. Harry was forced out immediately and once again stumbled back, this time falling into a wooden desk, knocking a pile of neatly arranged parchment onto the ground.

'Potter?'

'You were right sir.' Harry said bluntly, gasping for breath. Hugo slumped forward, his eyes closing, leaving him in a sleep like trance.

'No!' The Professor roared shoving his arm in front of Harry to stop him from proceeding. 'He's in a dangerous state.' Snape said cautiously, his eyes washing over the frail elf. 'Now tell me, what did he show you?'

* * *

><p><strong>Another chapter written :) I hope you like this; I finally know exactly where I'm going with the story, which is a relief. Enjoy! <strong>

**~ Bry**


	5. Chapter 5

July 31st. Midnight.

'Make a wish Harry!' He whispered softly to himself, staring out of the boy's dormitory window with a very distant look in his eyes, into the seemingly endless depths of the night sky. He was to turn 13 years old today, officially a teenager, that prospect excited him (although very daunting), each year older opened up many more chances magically for him, but the idea of spending yet another birthday in the company of someone who absolutely loathed him, wasn't so great. Harry wondered aloud what all his friends had been up to with their families in the past few days, whilst he had been yet again, fearing for his life. As he gazed at the stars he made his birthday wish; just once he wanted to have an uneventful school year at Hogwarts, where he would be just like any other teenage wizard, and share the same normal problems that they overcame everyday. Those problems certainly did not include worrying about the fast approaching day he would put one foot wrong and be blown to smithereens by his darkest enemy, Lord Voldemort.

Harry slipped off his messily tidied bed and quickly dressed himself in warm clothing; despite supposedly being July the weather had been dismal recently, deciding at the last moment that not wearing shoes would allow him to be as quite as possible. Snape would be dead to the world by now in his Private Quarters, therefore giving Harry free reign of the whole school, but instead of exploring the numerous winding corridors that lead to undiscovered old classrooms rooms that Hogwarts had, Harry had only one place in mind for spending the first few hours of his birthday. The place where the adventure had all began for him, where all the excitement in the school had been centred since his arrival almost 2 years ago; the magnificent Great Hall. He had spent many days of his holiday there so far, pacing up and down the aisles between the long tables, pondering on anything and everything, sitting at the Gryffindor table, and on one occasion the Teachers Head table, to complete pieces of homework that weren't due until September. But Harry was taking the opportunity to complete everything well before the end of the holiday, so that he had the rest of his time to enhance his knowledge in the library, practise his flying or do anything else that he really wanted to do, that he either couldn't normally do at Hogwarts, or would never have been allowed to do at Privet Drive.

But he knew that he would soon have to make his way to Diagon Alley to purchase all his new school equipment, a new cauldron (after Seamus Finnigan had accidentally smashed his whilst trying to impress his classmates with the levitating spell) and many more advanced books that he would need for his new timetable of lessons. He however, was not sure if Snape would actually let him go to get all this stuff by himself, and would probably send an elf to pick up all the supplies, something he wasn't too happy about. That once a year trip to Diagon Alley and all the amazing stores it held, was something Harry looked forward to all summer term.

* * *

><p>Without the aid of his invisibility cloak Harry had been very exposed on his short journey to the Great Hall, but for some reason, which Harry passed off as birthday butterflies, allowed him to not really care at all. He sat down at the very end of the Hufflepuff dining table and began to admire the stained glass window which was very much the focal point of the whole hall, the charms that made the ceiling look like the night time sky had been removed for the summer, revealing an equally as beautiful stone expanse. He was so lost in thought that he barely noticed the figure of his snowy owl swooping towards him, her wing span now that of a fully grown adult bird.<p>

'Hedwig!' He shouted and ran to greet the bird who landed on his shoulder and nibbled at his ear affectionately, on her way she had dropped 3 small parcels onto the table, accompanied by quite a few letters. Harry smiled; people had indeed remembered his birthday, which never failed to make him happy.

There was letters from both his best friends sending him birthday wishes, a short note from Hagrid which told him to drop by his hut on the last day of the holiday to pick up his present and a few longer letters from his other friends Neville, Seamus, Ginny, Susan and Colin. Harry had never had so many birthday cards in his entire life; today was really beginning to look better than the previous year.

'_This has been in my possession for years; I knew the day that your birth was announced that it was you, that was destined for it. Use it wisely, Harry James Potter.'_

The mysterious unsigned note was attached to a brown package, which had been badly wrapped. It reminded Harry of his first Christmas at Hogwarts, on which he had been sent his father's invisibility cloak with a note also without a name, but had later turned out to be none other than the Headmaster. What could it possibly be? With trembling fingers Harry pulled apart the packaging, to reveal a very small fragile glass phial of silver liquid. A cardboard tag was attached to the stopper, it read; _One drop, when all hope is gone._

Harry stared at the vile and the tag for what felt like hours trying to make sense of the riddle. Was he approaching this wrong? Was it really simple, and he was just missing the obvious? He'd read a good number of potions books and none had contained a potion that resembled anything like the substance he held in his hand. Completely bewildered he gently put the note and object down, reaching to untie Ron and Hermione's presents.

* * *

><p>'Potter?' Snape's airy voice echoed through the Great Hall, startling Harry who had been dozing.<p>

'Professor?' He managed a weak whisper back, his throat dry.

Snape sneered and raised his eyebrow in amusement, something Harry had seen him do a lot in the week and a half he had been with him. 'I will be leaving you to go to Diagon Alley today. I have an appointment to meet.'

'Oh!' Harry's response took Snape by surprise, who had already turned to leave.

'What?' Snape snapped, glaring at Harry who'd interrupted his exit.

'That reminds me. I was planning to ask for your permission to go to Diagon Alley today, you know, to get my school supplies.'

Snape stared at Harry assessing him and his question, looking very deep in thought for what could've been a minute to 5 minutes, before he eventually replied.

'If you are ready in half an hour, I will accompany you to Gringotts, there I will leave you, and there I will pick you up at exactly 4pm.'

* * *

><p>37 minutes later Harry was stood in his school robes and cleanest denim jeans, looking up at the enormous, weird looking building that was the famous Gringotts bank, in which he would find his parents fortune, left all to him. Gringotts was completely different to the bank his Uncle Vernon withdrew money from, one of the main differences being that the bank in front of him was run by nasty, money driven Goblins. A similarity they shared with his Uncle Harry thought, chuckling to himself.<p>

Snape had left about 3 minutes before, muttering '4pm' to Harry before he departed, not even glancing back, let alone saying goodbye. But that was the usual with Snape; after all, only one person hated Harry more than his Potions Professor.

'I'd like to access my vault please.' Harry said nervously but loud enough, gazing up at an elderly goblin that had absolutely massive, pointed ears.

'Do you have your key?' It asked, without looking away from the parchment it was writing on.

Harry took his little golden key out of his pocket and waved it in the goblins face, feeling annoyed that the whole transaction was taking so long; he didn't have time to waste.

'Very well, follow me this way.'

The trip to Harry's fault was like a thrilling rollercoaster, violent twists and turns followed by sudden, frightening drops. Harry almost managed to remember the directions to his fault from the first time he had been with Hagrid, back when he was buying his first supplies for Hogwarts, a mere few hours after finding out he was a wizard from a respected pure-blood family who had fallen to a painful, final demise.

He stepped out and handed his key to the Goblin, who opened the door and watched intently as Harry put handfuls of golden galleons into a leather string pouch which he then put into his satchel, which had been an early birthday present from Dumbledore.

One by one Harry slammed his heavy books onto the till of Flourish and Blotts, noting each title in his head. He had purchased more books than were on his list, but he had a lot of time to kill up at the school during the next few weeks, and nothing could be more productive than some light reading.

_Creatures of the sky and how to tame them, Cheats Charms and Chuckles for the average school wizard, Advanced Brewing for the Potions Master in you, Quidditch tactics and Defence charms for the cautious wizard_ were just some of the titles Harry had added to his growing collection. After deciding not to purchase a book on the world's most powerful wizards due to remembering Hermione had said something about him having a small chapter in the book Harry had forced himself to leave the shop before he spent too much money, which he very almost had done, in fact he'd more than halved the coins that had once been in his pouch.

* * *

><p>The rest of Harrys day was spent buying a vast amount of potions supplies, new school and Quidditch robes, more flying equipment (including broom polish and special scissors) and a few surprises for Hedwig, the hours had soon passed without Harry realizing. Luckily whilst lost in his own little world he had managed to purchase everything that he had wanted too, therefore he could go and meet Snape without the worry of asking for him to wait while he ran and got one last thing.<p>

'Ah, Potter. I was thinking, it's been a long day. How about a butterbeer and a slice of pumpkin pie?' the Professor asked looking pleased as he took in Harry's large bag of potions supplies, which included more than he had said on the list of ingredients he had distributed to every second year at the end of term.

Harry nodded and followed Snape to the Three Broomsticks, panting as he tried to keep a tight hold on his extremely heavy bags, not once did Snape offer to help him, but then again, Harry wouldn't have expected him to, not in a million years. They were seated in a cosy corner of the pub no more than 5 minutes later, The Potions master seemed to be popular with the waitress (a relationship which seemed to be very one sided) and therefore had been personally escorted to one of the best seats in the whole place, their orders been taken immediately without the usual wait. Against his word Snape had ordered a Firewhiskey and no food, whilst Harry had almost brought everything on the menu, much to his Professors disapproving glare; he was not one to indulge himself.

'Happy birthday, Potter.' He said snarkily, his lower lip trembling, dangerously closely to breaking into a sacrastic smile '13 is an awkward, pointless age. I don't see why you can't just skip 13-16; it would make my job a lot easier.' He added becoming his normal cruel self.

'I don't know. 13 feels kind of good so far.' Harry replied, his lips spreading into a wide smile as his butterbeer and assortment of foods were delivered to the table, by the same waitress as earlier. She promptly leant over Harry completely ignoring him, and brought her face close to Snape's.

'Anything else I can get for you darlin'? She asked pouting her lips in a fashion that reminded Harry of a duck. 'More 'whiskey?'

'I'm fine. Leave me be.' Snape growled pushing her gently, but definitely with enough force to make her stumble back, however she didn't seem to be put off as she shot him a toothy grin and waved a hand.

'A friend?' Harry said between sips of Butterbeer which left him with a foamy moustache that was visible all the way to his eyes.

'No.' Snape said simply, his eyes betraying his calm demeanour. The woman's presence was much more than an annoyance to him. They had to know each other, most women, actually most people, would never approach Severus Snape in that manner, not unless he favoured them. He was a very harsh man after all. Harry shrugged and dug a fork into his pumpkin pie, watched by the cold, still figure that was his Potions Professor.

'Sir, I have something I wanted to ask you…' Harry began, but was interrupted by Snape putting up a pale hand.

'Not now Potter. We are being watched.'

Harry gulped. Just what he needed, a bad end to a brilliant day.

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><p>'Go ahead.' Snape finally said as he broke his stare with someone and looked back quizzically at Harry.<p>

'I received this potion for my birthday, from an unknown sender. I was wondering if you could tell me what it is?' Harry asked pulling the small phial out of his jean pocket, where it had been the whole day, the safest place he could think to put it during his rush to get ready.

Snape paled.

'Why didn't you tell me sooner?' He snapped and snatched the vile out of Harry's hand. 'Who knows what you could do with it Potter.' Snape said accusingly, his eyes pouring into Harrys, who broke the connection by looking away uncomfortably.

'This potion is dangerous Potter. You are not to use it.' Snape confirmed, placing it in the middle of the table his eyes never leaving it, as if he couldn't believe it was in front of him.

'But Professor, can't you at least tell me what it is?'

'Only use it when all hope is gone… suitably fitting. Centiserum. It gives the consumer unimaginable powers for a certain amount of time, roughly an hour for each drop. Whilst under the influence you can perform spells you wouldn't even dream existed.''

'…you don't think?'

'I do think.'

'Oh.'

The two exchanged confusing small talk for about 5 minutes before Snape finally confirmed what Harry least wanted to hear.

'That must be what Eli was trying to get hold of when he poisoned you. Someone wants this Potter. And that someone isn't going to stop until they have it. Can you think of anyone who would want something like this so much that they would attack a child?'

Harry knew immediately who that person was.

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><p><strong>Thank you all for reading and reviewing, I appreciate it :) I hope you're all enjoying your holidays as well ~ Bry<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you to everyone who has followed this story so far :) Also thanks for the reviews and everything else, I appreciate it immensely. I didn't want to cover too much of the storyline in this chapter, just develop the relationship between Harry and Snape just a little more. Prepare yourself for a side of Snape you may never see again! Now, on with the story :D ~ Bry**

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><p>The long, strenuous walk back up to the castle was strangely relaxing for Harry that night, he felt abnormally safe in the company of Professor Snape, something he never dreamed he would've ever thought. But then again, lots of hearty filling food and many goblets of butterbeer usually had this effect on you.<p>

'Potter, you aren't scared are you?' Snape whispered through the darkness, no trace of his usual snarky sarcasm that would suggest he was taking the mickey out of Harry.

'n- well -, yes, a little.' Harry finally admitted after a few minutes of silence. 'I don't think I'm ready for this all over again.'

Harry hadn't admitted it to himself until that moment, how much of an impact the events of this year had had on him. The Chamber of Secrets and yet again putting his young life on the line for everyone had chilled Harry right to his core. He was frightened daily and easily worried by everything, and although his Gryffindor courage allowed him to hide this, when he woke in the middle of the night shaking after a violent nightmare, it took a lot of strength to keep his true feelings to himself. However, how Snape knew this, was beyond him. Harry knew when he asked the question that he didn't mean scared of the dark or being alone with Snape.

'You're a brave boy Harry.'

Harry found himself coming to a sudden, unexpected halt, firstly, had Snape actually addressed him by his proper name rather than his surname? And had he actually complimented him?

'Th-th-thank you.' He replied looking up into the darkness, where he knew Snape's face was, most likely regretting his choice of words.

Snape snorted an embarrassed acknowledgment and put out a hand that shoved Harry further in the direction of the castle, behind him Harry could feel Snape's warm breath on his neck, a sign that his protector wasn't far behind. At that moment Snape didn't seem to be that horrible, spiteful Professor that he had the reputation of being, in fact he almost felt like a friend. Sadly, he was probably only being nice due to his large consumption of alcohol, but the few kind words was like a direct warmth injection to Harry's heart.

'Professor?'

'Yes, Potter?'

'Who do you think sent me that potion?' Harry asked hesitantly, as if bringing up that subject would send Snape into a rage, but to his surprise Snape sighed.

'I really don't know Potter.' He stopped walking and placed both of his hands on Harry's shoulders and placed his face close to Harry's face and spoke seriously, his voice uncharacteristically shaky. 'Can you think of anyone?'

Harry began to think systematically through his oldest memories, trying to find anyone that he knew, or had met even briefly that had could have mentioned anything about the potion, or the possibilities it held. Nothing.

'No, I can't.'

'Potter, do you give me permission to search your mind myself, if we find out who sent it, then it could aid us greatly in protecting you.'

Harry accepted eventually after much thought of the sacrifice of his privacy that he would be making, Snape wanted to use Legilimens on him to discover who had sent him the potion, because he would be able to find out things that Harry didn't even know he knew, but that also meant giving up his deepest secrets, and feelings. Snape would find out things Harry never wanted anyone to know, he would be giving up part of himself, to the man he hated almost as much as his Uncle and Voldemort.

'Firstly, let's get back to the school, it wouldn't be safe to do it here, we'd both be quite vulnerable.'

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><p>About 45 minutes later Harry was sat in front of Snape's desk, inside his potions classroom.<p>

'Potter, look at me.'

As soon as Harry glanced up he felt a presence in his mind, and immediately knew Snape had performed the spell, and was now inside his mind, absorbing his memories, thoughts and feelings from the moment he entered this world.

'_Think of the potion. Think of the moment you got it.'_

The Professors voice was like a hissing snake in his head, slow and enunciated, but haunting. Harry however, did as he was told. He thought back to the morning, when he was sat at the Hufflepuff dining table, happily opening his presents. He could feel the constant intrusion of Snape in his head, pressing Harry to find exactly what he was looking for, but clearly to no avail.

'_Think of your parents.'_

It was something Harry knew he couldn't do, without grieving.

'_I can't do that Professor…it's too painful.' _

'_It's going to be equally as painful for me, you know.' Snape replied, pressing Harry._

Harry sighed and looked back to the only memory he had of his parents. A flash of green light. His mother's heart-breaking scream. His father's last shout to Lily, telling her to save herself. Voldemort's merciless laugh. It began to eat away at Harry, until he could stand it no more.

'NO!' he roared, mentally shoving Snape out his mind with such force that when he opened his eyes he was running but not before he had stumbled over more than one desk on his way out, leaving the classroom is disarray, but he didn't care what Snape thought, or the repercussions of destroying his class. He had to get as far away from him as he possibly could, until now no one had known the intimate details about his parent's final demise, and the idea of someone knowing, was chilling. He didn't know if he could ever meet Snape's eyes again. The whole world new that James and Lily Potter had died at the vile hands of Lord Voldemort, but none had known what had really gone on that night.

What Harry had completely missed during his petrified, unexpected reaction, was Snape's face crumbling in grief.

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><p>11pm.<p>

Harry knelt by the edge of the lake, his whole body convulsing painfully. He didn't know what had happened to him, during his Legilimens class with Snape the night before, in which he had delved into the depths of an innocent elf's mind, the Professor, had mentioned nothing about the consequences of your own mind being invaded. He certainly hadn't mentioned how devastating the lasting effects could be, but he probably hadn't wanted to scare him, or knowing him, wanted Harry to suffer when he found out for himself. Harry spat venomously and put his head between his knees, trying to fight the overwhelming urge to black out. It wasn't just the memory of his parents death that Snape had managed to pluck to the surface of his mind, but every bad thing that had happened in his short life; his first meeting with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest (which Harry was obliviously close to at that moment in time), coming face to face with Quirrell, the scare of the Chamber of Secrets and Tom Riddles Diary, the fight with the Basilisk and witnessing his best friend laying in a hospital bed, petrified. But to top off everything, just before he threw Snape out of his mind, the distorted face of a man had appeared. He couldn't quite remember what he looked like as the image had only appeared very briefly, but he had a dirty face which was covered in many unsightly purple bruises, he had a moustache that appeared to not have been trimmed in a long time, and finally thick locks of muddy, matted brown hair, which connected to an equally curly, untidy beard. The thing that bothered Harry the most, was that he had seen the face before, in one of his nightmares, and once in Diagon Alley with Hagrid, but for the life of him he couldn't remember who the man was.

'Stupid, stupid Snape!' Harry grunted and threw a stone into the lake, which bounced twice then fell into the waiting claws of the water. Harry's body stopped writhing long enough for him to prop himself up on his elbows and gaze up into the sky, taking in his surroundings. The moon shone brightly in the evening sky, it's radiant light reflecting off the surface of the lake but being stopped by the huge boulders that were dotted around the perimeter of the grounds. The castle stood as elegant and commanding as it always did, a statue of perfection and safety; home. A smile quivered on Harry's lips, and then finally grew into a wide grin, a laugh fuelled with relief soon following. He felt almost drugged, crazed in a way.

'Potter drink this! Now!'

Harry's high soon crashed in front of his eyes. He turned, scowling, to face the form of the man who was running towards him, a prominent limp in his left leg from the scar Fluffy had given him in Harry's first year at Hogwarts, which had made him feel this way, and ruined his good mood.

'What do you want? To humiliate me farther?' He spat, taking a confident step back from Snape.

Snape sighed just loud enough over his ragged breath for Harry to hear.

'No Potter. I am not here to humiliate you. I'm here to put right what I caused.' He admitted hesitantly handing Harry a vile of violet liquid, which looked suspiciously like the substance Harry had witnessed him brewing the first time he had entered his private study.

'What will it do?' He enquired putting his nose to the top of the vile, taking a deep sniff of the jasmine scented liquid. It smelt almost edible.

'It's a relaxant. It should sort out the conflict you're having in…your head.'

'Which you caused.' Harry said bluntly before swallowing every last drop of the potion, the disgusted look on his face not only amusing Snape, but reassuring Harry that looks, and smell in this case, weren't to be trusted.

'…yes that I may have caused, but that I am sorting out, yes?'

Snape perched himself on a boulder that was a few metres from Harry and pushed the tip of his wand into his jugular thoughtfully. 'Who was that man Potter? I'm led to believe…he was the one who sent you this potion. But not with the intentions of you using it to kill of the Dark Lord.'

'I have no clue…my mind registered seeing him somewhere before, but who he is, is beyond me.' Harry replied, taking his scratched classes off and cleaning them with his robes. 'Reparo.' He muttered twisting the frame of his glasses between his fingers, assessing the results of his quick spell. Satisfactory.

'Harry. You can't carry this potion in your possession, under any circumstances. You could, no, you would most definitely go to Azkaban if you were caught and found with it on your person.'

'I could?' Harry almost toppled over his knees in surprise, the position he had been in for over 3 hours, was strangely comfortable. 'Why?' He added, narrowing his eyes towards Snape who looked very sombre.

'Because if you used it at the right time Potter, you could…destroy everyone, shall I say? Plus, it's on the list of unforgivable potions. Rather like the collection of unforgivable curses which…you are familiar with.'

Harry mulled that over as Snape put a secure arm over his shoulder and led him slowly up to the school, no words leaving his lips the entire time; it seemed the man of very few words was back to his usual self. Harry didn't even put up a fight when Snape made him follow him to his private quarters, where he settled him on the leather recliner.

'Take some painkillers for the headache, Potter.' Snape said handing Harry a small goblet of water and 2 red capsules. Snape owned Muggle medicine?

'Not mine…er; Dumbledore gave them to me, after…something happened.' He muttered, as if he had read Harry's thoughts, but had probably only seen the look of disbelief on his face. However, Harry decided not to press the awkward subject and just downed the water and swallowed the tablets, which had a horrible after taste of fried newt.

It was there that Harry fell asleep that night, cuddled up on the hard leather recliner, holding tightly onto the corners of a Slytherin crested blanket that Snape had fetched him from a cupboard somewhere. It felt extremely weird to have someone that wasn't his best friends, look out for him purely based on the fact they wanted to, not because they 'had' to, due to who he was and what he had done in his past. What was even weirder, was that it was Severus Snape who was that person, who at that moment in time sat at his desk reading over the latest biased news in the Daily Prophet, glancing frequently at the door to his bedroom which was slightly ajar, to check if his charge was still sound asleep, and most importantly, safe.

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><p><strong>Once in a lifetime chance at seeing Snape's softer side! I hope you enjoyed it :)<strong>

**A/N: Snape's more developed character is plausible in this situation as it is vital for the storyline, I guess you could say it would be a little out of character for his dark secretive self, but don't the summer holidays make everyone a little more relaxed? Anyway, lastly, in reply to one of my reviews, I know that elves probably wouldn't speak grammatically correct, but it's such an important part of the storyline that I didn't want to mess around with trying to make them more Dobbyish, because I would fail :C Intelligent elves it is!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, here we go with chapter 7. I'm making amendments as I speak to my characterization, but I'll try to incorporate so it isn't too much of a drastic change, I want to get my portrayal of Snape just right. Enjoy, review, read more…you guys know the drill. ~ Bry**

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><p>Harry woke at around midday the following day, with a stinking headache and a horrible feeling of dread in his gut. The past few days had been very…eye opening for him.<p>

He departed Snape's private quarters in a daze, still confused as to how he had actually ended up sleeping on his Potion Masters couch, when the man so clearly despised him. But Harry wasn't going to dwell on that; he had days of flying and many homework assignments to catch up on. On his way out he came face to face with Snape, who had his wand at the ready in one hand, and in the other a large chicken drumstick, it was quite a funny sight really, Harry had taken him by surprise.

'Professor, what are you doing?' Harry questioned, manoeuvring himself subtly out of the firing line of the Professors wand, he most definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end if Snape was in a bad mood, he wouldn't stand a chance.

'That is none of your concern Potter, now leave.'

Harry was surprised by his coldness, only last night he had been talking to Harry as if…he car- no, Snape didn't feel. Snape most certainly did not care. He could kick himself for thinking that he did.

Clicking his tongue he took one last look at the mean figure of his Professor and stomped out of the corridor that led to the staff quarters, a scowl plastered on his face. He'd been so stupid.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, spent mostly practising his flying and throwing golf balls (which he had managed to acquire from a half-blood friend in the Gryffindor common room who had an unhealthy obsession with Muggle sports) across the sky and zooming after them. A morning well spent. But when it came to lunch Harry only had one thing on his mind, avoiding Snape. He felt embarrassed that he had actually opened up to him and told him his feelings, and he was so furious that he had agreed to let him into his mind, and now he only knew better how to bully Harry. A foolish act which would cost him greatly.

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><p>Harry pushed open the common room door, stopping only to whisper the password 'Finklehorn' to the temporary portrait of a violin playing Nun that was guarding Gryffindor. However, to his surprise, there wasn't just food on the coffee table, there was an elf perched on the corner of a nearby chair too. Eli.<p>

Harry scowled and closed the door behind him silently, trying not to alert the elf to his presence yet, those seconds could give him the upper hand.

'What do you want?' He asked accusingly, trying to hide the feelings of anticipation and fear that were telling him repeatedly to run for it and not look back.

'Eli has come to serve Mister Potter luncheon!' The elf cried happily, completely oblivious to Harry's stance and the fact he was clutching his wand tightly behind his back.

'But you tried to poison me!' Harry shrieked and backed off as Eli approached him, skipping, a look of bliss on his face, which didn't last long once Harry had spoken.

'Eli was following orders. Eli was beaten black and blue by Master Snape.' The little elf said sadly and bowed his head which he then began to bash against the table, his actions reminding Harry sourly of Dobby's attempt to 'save' him.

'But Snape didn't tell you to poison me! Or did he?'

'Eli does not serve the House of Snape. Eli serves the house of Hexor.'

'Eli, did your master tell you to do this?'

'Eli serves the House of Hexor!' the elf repeated placing a stumpy grey arm over his chest, in some sort of acknowledgment to his Master.

Who was Hexor; could he have been the man that Harry had been seeing, and the man that had given him the potion? No. Harry recalled Snape telling him that the elf had belonged to one of his close acquaintances, the man he had met in the Three Broomsticks a while before Harry had begun making Hogwarts his summer home. But then again, who was to say this man wasn't going behind his back? Any acquaintance of Severus Snape could not be marked down as a best friend sort. Surely Snape would've recognized the man in Harry's mind when he was using Legilimency? Harry sighed out loud; he had so many questions and no one to ask. Eli, still very oblivious, vanished with an impressive twirl of his body. Harry knew immediately that he'd have to find out about the Hexor family, and especially Eli's master, who it was quite clear, was deceiving someone using his loyal house elf, to bring about a connection with Harry.

'Here we go again' Harry whispered to himself and tucked into his lunch.

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><p>'<em>Dear Hermione,<em>

_So it turns out that the potion we talked about in the other mail is really dangerous in the hands of the wrong people, and either someone is after it for themselves, or wants me to use it to their advantage. Any chance you could do some research on the Hexor family?_

_Harry'_

He attached the mail to Hedwig's leg after writing a slightly edited version of the same letter to Ron who would appreciate a few more details on his Quidditch practises' and a some helpful notes on the Potions assignment, and set her off on her journey. Until they replied he'd have to just get on with his life, but he'd have a look in the library and read through some old papers (which he knew was there due to his friend Neville discovering them in their first year of Hogwarts, from that day he had used most of them as a chance to get a 'one up' in the class History of Magic) but Harry had no idea if he would find out anything about the Hexor lineage, that type of thing he usually left to Hermione's inquisitive and determined self.

Hexor, as Harry had suspected, wasn't in any of the books in the library, nor did the name appear in any material in the restricted section, which surprisingly was very easy to access without anyone watching your every move. Before he knew it he'd spent most of the afternoon there, searching through book after book of well-known powerful and evil wizards. However, when Harry turned to skimming Nevilles old papers that were in a pile in the corner of the restricted section, he found out some very, very introducing news.

'_Mathilda Hexor, Death Eater and loyal follower of He-who-must-not-be-named was sentenced to 35 years in Azkaban earlier this morning. Once her sentence has ended she will stand before the high court and her fate will be decided, The Dementors kiss or not? Evidence was provided to the jury regarding Hexor's murderous rampage through London in which she ended the lives of 4 extremely powerful wizards who tried to restrain her and hundreds of innocent Muggle lives, the death toll is said to not be certain, many more bodies are being discovered as we write this report.'_

Bingo. So Eli's Master was actually a Mistress. Hadn't Harry heard Snape talking to a woman that day in his classroom, the day Harry had been poisoned? Could it be…However, Harry's question was partially answered as he read on.

'_Father Dimitri Hexor has claimed that he wants nothing more to do with his daughter and therefore will not partake in any interviews nor will he be appearing at her final decisive sentencing on August the 4__th__ 1986.'_

Underneath the text was a moving picture of a screaming, writhing witch in her early 20's with shoulder length blonde curly hair, a full lower lip which was ruined by a nasty scar, surprisingly she was quite pretty despite her obvious personality and loyalty issues, and her many blemishes, she didn't look the sort to be a murderer, or a Death Eater. In fact, something in her helpless blue eyes protested her innocence. They looked scared, really scared. The picture was captioned with a few small facts on the Hexor family, exactly what Harry was looking for.

'_Hermione!_

_Mathilda Hexor – sentenced to 35 years in Azkaban for murder, was most probably sentenced to death today exactly 8 years ago. Can you research her in the archives? It could be important. The Hexor family are a Pure-blood French family with connections to powerful royal wizards worldwide, this could help us._

_Keep in touch,_

_Harry' _

He scribbled out the note to Hermione whilst he was thinking about it, to collect his thoughts more than anything, and left it on the table beside his work so that he could send it when Hedwig returned. As he put the Mathilda newspaper to the side to take back up to his dormitory with him the Hogwarts bell rang to alert him that another hour had passed. 5pm!

Harry made a noise of surprise and fell out his chair in a hurry, scrambling to pick up all the parchment and papers that he needed. He left behind all the Daily Prophets that he had already read, only bringing with him the few that were left, along with a book on advanced Charms which would help him with his assignment. He ran through the corridors in a daze clutching his work to his chest, barely looking where he was going, until his body made contact with another. A hard, shaking body, belonging to none other than a fuming Potions Professor who'd had to grab onto a pillar to keep himself from falling square on the bum.

'POTTER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT BOY!'

'S-s-s-sorry Professor, I wasn't looking where I was going.' Harry stuttered and bent down rapidly to gather up all his scattered papers just in case the Professor saw the topic of his reading material, Snape, of course, made no move to help him, but stood scowling at him, hissing through his yellow teeth, probably trying to keep his cool.

'30 points from Gryffindor for being a clumsy idiot.' He finally said as Harry straightened himself.

'But Sir, it's the h-'

'10 more points from Gryffindor.'

Harry got the picture. Snape was embarrassed about the previous' nights act of kindness, and was making up for it by being more horrible than usual, if that were possible. He was about to scuttle away without a second glance from Snape when the Professor cuffed him around the ear painfully with the book he was holding.

'Tell me why you are looking at articles on the Hexor family boy.' He spat, waving the Mathilda paper in Harry's eye line. He felt his stomach drop and his body begin to shiver, a perfectly normal response to Snape's harsh voice, but something he hadn't felt since the end of term, he wondered if Snape himself had been possessed when he was…being caring. But there were more pressing matters at hand, along the line of very quickly trying to come up with an excuse for why he was reading up on the Hexor family.

'I wasn't looking them up specifically Sir; I got bored and was just reading the papers.'

'Potter, the papers in your arm contain only articles on Mathilda Hexor and her father. Tell me why, now.'

'Please Sir, I just found them interesting!'

'10 points for lying to me Potter. One last chance before I confiscate them. I don't like repeating myself.'

Harry sighed. Snape would find out one way or another.

'I thought possibly that Dimitri Hexor could have been the man who sent me the potion…He is the Master of Eli after all.'

Snape's eyes seemed to glow with anger, looking more dangerous than ever.

'Eli belongs to Dimitri's cousin. Clearly you were too stupid to research further. Dimitri was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment in Azkaban a few years ago. Put those pieces together, as that seems to be a talent of yours, Potter.' He added sarcastically before making a haste disappearance, Harry's paper still in his hand.

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><p>7pm came around too fast as it always did, and Harry found himself sat in Snape's classroom, gazing around the room expectantly, waiting for its owner to appear. However, he didn't have to wait long. Taking him by surprise Snape entered by the students door, storming through the walkway closing the shutters of the windows with an impressive flick of his wrist. It was clear he was past caring that a student now knew that he could perform powerful wandless magic, a skill admired by all young wizardswitches and fully matured wizards a like, and a skill perfected by very, very few.

'Potter turn to page 30 in your book.' He instructed standing in a statuesque pose at the head of his classroom, his eyes narrowed like a hawk.

'Antipoisons sir?'

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><p><strong>Okay quite a short chapter. Hope you're all enjoying the story, etc. etc.<strong>

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own any of JK Rowling's characters, however my characters belong to me… please ask permission if you wish to use them, etc. etc. **

**Lastly, please check out my new story; A New Life. It can be found on my profile somewhere and I think you'd all like reading it**

**Batman over and out,**

**~ Bry**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about not updating... I got a bit put off, but I'm back, and about to put in as much effort as I can possibly muster into this chapter. Check out my newest story; Teenage Death Eater... title says it all. I have nothing else to say, on with the show. **

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><p><span>Severus Snape POV.<span>

Cautiously but quickly Snape made his way through the thick of the damp green foliage of the forest flicking tree branches and leaves out of his way with the palm of his hands, trying to create a space for him to see through. Night was fast approaching and he would soon find himself in complete darkness, in a foreign place, about to meet a potentially dangerous character who he knew to have a very two sided personality which was not particularly stable. Today was not going to be Severus' day.

He muttered a few more obscene cusses before he finally found himself standing in a large wooded opening about 20 minutes after he'd port-keyed to the unknown location, exactly what the letter he had received had described. It had instructed him loosely to meet the sender at the only opening in the forest at nightfall, no later, and alone. Snape was usually a very suspicious man who valued his life greatly, and his Slytherin tendencies stretched to the point where he was selfish enough to leave others behind if it meant saving himself. But the seal of the letter had been that of the Hexor family, and Snape knew that his connexions with the family, meant that if he had been summoned by any of their clan, he was safe, no matter the circumstances. He was a very valued Death Eater, and anyone who compromised his ability to keep the Dark Lord alive in his recent research attempts of finding a way to utilize the venom of the Sorcerers familiar Nagini's to create an Elixir of Life, was better off dead. However, he had one other thing on his side. Dimitri Hexor, the father of Mathilda Hexor who had come to a nasty and very final end 8 years ago, was in debt to Snape. This debt however, hadn't been spoken about, or accounted for, in the 21 years Severus had known Dimitri, he was saving that for a time when he would really need the Wizard. Many evenings he had found himself sat in his house in Spinners End pondering in the dark on how he could use Dimitri's power and ruthlessness in a way that would be both worthwhile and beneficial to himself, over the years before the Potter offspring had been born he had only come up with two options that he would've liked to pursue. They were; using Dimitri as an assassin to discretely end the life of James Potter, so that Snape could claim Lily as his own, and make her his wife, or wait for the time when the Dark Lord would no longer favour him, and turn on him. At that point Dimitri would be made to step in, sacrifice himself to give Snape the time to escape and live a life of recluse and fear, or give his life to prove to Voldemort that he believed Severus worthy of life. Either way Dimitri would save his life in the long-run. But now it was clear of his decision, being that Lily Potter was no longer alive, nor was his enemy James. Severus' choice to join the ranks of the Dark Lords followers whilst his true allegiance was to Dumbledore, was something that made each day that he got through alive and unscathed slightly better, but if you thought about it, his life was a ticking time bomb, just waiting to hit zero.

'You came.' The raw, ever sarcastic voice of Dimitri Hexor brought Severus back to reality. He slid his arm slyly into the back of his robes and clutched onto his wand tightly, just in case, and narrowed his eyes and stared intently into the bottomless pits that were the eyes of a soulless killer.

'Yes.' Severus whispered and stepped forward guardedly as his old friend opened his arms to him and gestured for him to approach. Dimitri, being very similar to Snape in more ways than one, was just as blunt and found small talk a waste of time, something Severus was secretly glad for. The past few years he had spent a lot of time in the company of the Hexor heir and would not have been able to stand the company if he'd been talkative.

They embraced comfortably, for a moment feeling like any normal friends who were meeting after a while. Severus was extremely glad that this meeting hadn't been anywhere public, as any display of affection disgusted him, especially if he were the one performing the atrocity.

'Why have you brought me here Dimitri? You know that it is I who usually does the summoning.' He questioned, breaking out of the hold of his fellow Death Eater early and discretely shuffling back so that he had at least an arm's length of distance from the Wizard. 'Tell me, you aren't in trouble are you?'

Dimitri laughed loudly, the noise unsettling Snape somewhat. His friend was exactly like him in the department of emotions, and in all the time he had known him, he was never known to laugh, not even when he was 'doing good deeds' as Dimitri referred to the act of murder. He was a deeply troubled man, and his past and experiences had rendered him broken, but a very sly character that was to not be underestimated.

'No, No Severus. I am safe, and well. Thank you for asking.' He grinned showing a set of off-white crooked teeth, a front tooth and a canine on his left side missing from a brawl he'd had at the age of 12, when he'd first met Snape, who had in fact saved him from narrowly having a broken nose and quite possibly a fractured cheek bone. Having his aristocratic features ruined hadn't been an objective of Dimitri's, but he was a boy that would never back down from a fight. So to conclude, Dimitri owed Snape his beautiful face, which had only ended up being aged and distorted by the years of fear and fatigue which he had endured in his days as a man on the run from both the law and some very peed off Death Eaters.

'Then Dimitri, why are you here? I have things to be doing; I don't have time for stupid catch ups.' He snapped, annoyed that his time had been wasted, even if he had only been relaxing in front of a fire with a goblet of Firewhiskey reading the months editions of Potions Latest.

'Now, now. Don't be so Hostile Severus.' Dimitri retorted, wrinkling his slightly wonky nose in distaste, and began to pace back and forth in front of the Potions Master. 'I summoned you, because I have come to hear about the intentions of my cousin. His actions I believe, may impact you somewhat.'

Severus head snapped up. 'What?' he questioned, his eyes widening in suspicion, unconsciously leaning his frozen body in the direction of the Wizard.

'I think you know Severus. You are not a stupid man. Use your head.' Dimitri shoved a dirty, long finger into Snape's forehead and stared intensely at him. 'I don't have the patience, or time to explain.'

Snape didn't want to mention the phial of Centiserum that had mysteriously ended up in the possession of Harry, a substance like that, if Dimitri was ignorant to its existence, could be deadly. However, he knew that the Wizard meant something to do with the child that was in his care.

'You leave him be Dimitri. The Dark Lord will need him one day.' Snape seethed, grabbing the collar of his friends white dress shirt and lifting him roughly off the ground so that his skinny legs dangled in the air, his black trousers pulling up slightly to show bruised and cut ankles.

He could feel Dimitri shivering underneath his hold; it was something Snape recognized easily. Fear.

'After all those years…you're still petrified of me, D.' Severus whispered softly, washing the quaking Wizard in his hot breath. Dimitri grunted and struggled against his pale fist.

'Never.' He spat out of the corner of his mouth into the dirt, and shoved a shaking hand fiercely into Snape's lean, muscular chest, who didn't even wobble. Severus watched as his friend tried a few more times to detach himself from his clutches, until finally he gave up and went limp in the air. Giving up.

'Give me your oath that you won't hurt the boy.' Severus said silkily, bringing the Wizard up close to his chest, so that was no more than a hands distance between their two bodies, his long hooked nose pressing against Dimitri's forehead. He looked down through hooded eyes, into the wide eyes of his friend who held his stare, apparently testing him. In response Snape shook him violently, so hard he thought he could hear D's bones rattling beneath his skin.

'On one condition Severus.'

'What?'

'Fight me.'

* * *

><p>Severus pulled off his travelling cloak and his outer robes, revealing a spotless, white dress shirt similar to Dimitri's, and long fitted denim Muggle jeans. He slipped his feet out of his shiny Gucci loafers and flexed his arms and clicked his neck. He had never lost a fight to against the Wizard that stood before him warming himself up, and that wasn't about to change.<p>

His opponent wasn't built like a steamroller, nor did he always think out his moves as methodically as Severus did, but he was bred to kill, and would do anything in his power to achieve his goal, something Severus was always wary about. Snape was caught by surprise and knocked out of his thought process as his opponent rushed at him, landing an early and very firm blow to the side of Severus' jaw, a painful crack echoing through the forest opening. Severus groaned very loudly and shook his head to try and clear the ringing in his ears, but to not much avail; he would have to take the Wizard impaired. Dimitri threw another powerful blow at Snape but his attack was blocked and returned, however he was quick to attack again and the two exchanged punch for punch for about 5 minutes, each unable to break the others barrier. Suddenly Dimitri caught him in the right ear with a hook, causing Severus to stumble back, dazed. Before he knew it he had been leapt on forcefully and all his limbs had been rendered useless. The two laid like that for a few seconds, only the heavy sounds of their irregular breathing could be heard. Dimitri appeared to be assessing the damage he had inflicted on Severus, his eyes flickering over the fresh cut under Snape's ear and the slightly wonky appearance of his prominent nose. However, Severus used this fraction of a second to his advantage and managed to buck his hips with enough raw strength to throw the Death Eater off him and began to pummel his opponent with his fists, the familiar crack of breaking bones not stopping him. He was merciless. He was seeking to disorientate him so badly than he would be unable to fight back, therefore leaving him to concede, but Dimitri was a Death Eater who had been on the run for 5 years, and had fought off the terribly painful repercussions of the Cruciatus curse, he wasn't going to give in to a few broken bones. Within seconds the outcome of the fight had rapidly changed, and Severus new he only needed to make 3 moves which would end this. He wasn't going to kill his opponent, just force him to comply with what he wanted.

Severus raised and looked down at the convulsing Wizard who was choking violently, gasping for air which his lungs were desperate for. Snape allowed him to catch his breath and stand before he flung his athletically built body at Dimitri and swung him around, using his bare feet to buckle the Hexor Heirs knees, leading him to fall to the ground, his face grazing the floor momentarily before Snape grabbed the collar of his shirt and wrenched him up just before his face made full contact, which would probably knock him out. He wasn't about to end this just yet, in fact he was enjoying the work out and was thrilled he was regaining the respect he was used to.

Move #2. Snape kneed Dimitri in the back repeatedly until he spat out blood and looked like he was losing his will to fight. That's when he pulled out move three. Slamming his palms into Dimitri's shoulder blades he pressed hard and broke the bones, stepping back and leaving his opponent defeated and laying on the floor unconscious, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Never again would he question Snape's ability to fight.

'Ennerviate!' Severus bellowed, pointing his wand at the still body. The counter curse awoke the Wizard who raised his head and attempted to roll over but failed and clutched himself groaning.

'Do you concede Dimitri?'

'I do.' He rasped, spitting out some of the scarlet liquid which was pooling from a cut on his tongue where he'd bitten it.

'Take the Oath. Swear that you will never harm Harry Potter, and you will never assist anyone who wishes to harm Harry Potter, not even…your cousin.' He added on the end, roughly kicking the Death Eater, prompting him to respond quickly.

'…Very well, Severus.'

The magic swirled around the duo as the Oath was completed, allowing Snape to breathe out in relief. One less person was going to put Harry in any form of danger; he wouldn't be able to stand it if all his efforts in protecting the offspring of his one and only love were compromised by his friend.

'Good. Now tell me anything you know about plans to end the life of one Harry Potter.'

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you like this chapter… I did it from the POV from Snape for once, and found it was actually slightly easier. But you know. Enjoy.<strong>


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